ANNUAL  SERMON 


BEFORE  THE 

American  Board  of  Commissioners 
FOR  Foreign  Missions 

DELIVERED  AT 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.,  OCTOBER  3,  1899 


BY  THE 

REV.  GEORGE  C.  ^DAMS,  D.D. 

Pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL.  ^ 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 


ANNUAL  SERMON 


BEFORE  THE 

American  Board  of  Commissioners 
FOR  Foreign  Missions 


DELIVERED  AT 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.,  OCTOBER  3,  1899 


BY  THE 

REV.  GEORGE  C.  ADAMS,  D.D. 

Pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  BOARD 

CONGREGATIONAL  HOUSE,  BOSTON 

1899 


Beacon  Press  : 
Thomas  Todd,  Printer, 
14  Beacon  Street, 
Boston. 


(Il'PllllTHNm'  FUR  THE  IIOLV  SPIRIT. 


“I  CAMK  THAI’  IMKY  MAY  II.AYK  I.IIK,  AND  MAY  HAVE  IT  ABl'N- 
DA.N  n.Y.’’  — Joh)!  X : to. 

The  Holy  Spirit  works  through  human  means.  He 
comes,  not  at  our  agonized  call  alone,  but  when  we  have 
fulfilled  the  conditions  in  which  it  is  possible  for  Him  to 
reach  us.  Elijah  was  never  more  in  earnest  in  prayer  in  his 
life  than  when  he  asked  for  translation  because  he  was  not 
fit  to  live.  But  even  the  Spirit  of  God  could  do  nothing 
with  him  in  that  mood  ; it  was  only  when  the  wind  and  the 
earthquake  and  the  fire  had  passed  over  him,  and  his  rest- 
less spirit  was  humbled  by  the  mighty  unrest  of  nature,  that 
he  was  fit  to  hear  the  “still  small  voice.”  The  Spirit  of 
God  had  a special  commission  to  give  him,  but  was  power- 
less until  the  prophet  had  risen  from  his  hopeless  pessimism, 
and  in  the  awful  stillness  that  follows  the  tornado  his  voice 
could  be  heard.  The  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost 
was  not  a sudden  nor  an  unexpected  occurrence  to  the  disci- 
ples. Not  a word  of  surprise  is  expressed  by  them.  The 
astonished  were  the  unprepared  ; the  disciples  had  received 
a training  in  the  fifty  days  preceding  that  made  them  ready ; 
they  met  for  prayer,  and  with  one  accord  continued  stead- 
fastly in  prayer.  They  at  last  understood  the  Saviour’s  pre- 
diction about  the  coming  of  the  Comforter,  and  their  lives 
were  dedicated  to  his  service.  It  was  not  until  the  day  of 
Pentecost  was  fully  come  that  He  appeared;  and  the  “fully” 
here  spoken  of  refers  as  much  to  the  preparation  of  heart  as  to 
the  date  on  the  calendar.  As  the  development  of  the  young 
church  went  on.  He  still  came  only  to  those  whose  hearts 
were  ready,  and  whose  lives  were  fulfilling  the  conditions 
under  which  He  could  work  successfully.  Unpalatable  as 


4 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


the  idea  is  to  many,  He  could  not  come  to  the  twelve  wait- 
ing disciples  at  Ephesus  whom  Paul  found,  because  of  the 
incompleteness  of  their  creed.  They  believed  in  a Saviour 
yet  to  be  revealed.  There  was  no  place  in  that  confession 
for  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  Paul  preached 
the  gospel  to  them  and  they  met  the  conditions,  the  Spirit 
came  to  them,  and  the  usual  manifestations  of  his  presence 
followed.  There  is  no  variation  from  this  law ; there  is  a 
divine  order  in  revelation  to  the  individual  soul,  as  much  as 
in  creation  or  revelation  through  Scripture,  and  no  amount 
of  prayer  without  preparation  will  cause  it  to  vary. 

The  Saviour  recognized  this  fact,  and  emphasized  it. 
The  disciples  could  not  understand  how  it  was  expedient 
that  He  should  go  away  from  them,  but  He  insisted  on  it. 
They  clung  to  the  earthly  Jesus ; He  led  them  to  the  divine 
Christ.  They  were  as  lost  without  his  bodily  presence  as  a 
child  without  its  mother,  but  he  prepared  them  as  a mother 
is  compelled  to  for  the  time  when  they  must  walk  without 
Him,  relying  on  themselves  ; for  that  purpose  they  were  to 
be  better  guided  by  the  Spirit  than  they  could  be  by  the 
Master  himself.  So  we  may  understand  the  evidences  of 
the  resurrection  and  the  occurrences  of  the  forty  days.  The 
appearances  of  the  risen  Christ  are  mysterious  even  now 
until  we  have  the  key.  Two  purposes  were  before  him; 
first,  to  give  sufficient  evidence  of  the  fact  of  the  resurrec- 
tion for  all  future  use  the  Spirit  would  have  to  make  of  it ; 
and  second,  to  so  train  the  wondering  disciples  that  they 
would  be  ready  to  walk  without  His  presence.  That  the 
first  was  thoroughly  accomplished  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
Paul,  who  was  not  born  into  the  kingdom  until  long  after 
these  occurrences,  is  the  one  to  gather  into  one  statement 
the  evidences  of  the  resurrection,  and  show  their  cumulative 
force.  In  our  discussions  we  are  prone  to  give  too  little 
weight  to  the  second  purpose  ; a careful  study  of  the  appear- 
ance of  Christ  after  His  resurrection,  with  this  question  in 
mind,  “ What  was  He  trying  to  accomplish  ? ” reveals  a pro- 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


s 


gres.sive  influence  on  the  minds  of  the  disciples,  that  pre- 
pared them  for  the  wonderful  change  that  came  with  the 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  He  was  leading  them  from  the 
visible  to  the  invisible.  His  words  to  Mary  Magdalene, 
the  walk  to  Kmmaus,  and  the  revealing  through  the  break- 
ing of  bread  ; his  two  appearances  to  the  disciples  when  the 
same  body  that  bore  the  print  of  the  nails  and  the  wound  of 
the  spear  had  suddenly  appeared  in  their  midst,  though  the 
doors  were  shut  for  fear  of  the  Jews;  the  days  so  spent 
among  them  that  even  the  untutored  fishermen  realized  that 
they  were  on  the  borderland  between  two  worlds ; all  these 
things  were  a part  of  the  education  of  the  believers  into  the 
thought  of  a spiritual  Christ,  unseen,  but  more  real  to  them 
than  ever,  who  should  be  truly  present  to  them,  and  whose 
work  should  go  on  more  grandly  than  ever  under  the  con- 
stant impulse  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  How  well  this  purpose 
was  accomplished ! The  same  disciples  who  fled  at  the 
arrest,  crept  fearfully  at  a distance  at  the  crucifixion,  could 
not  believe  the  resurrection  was  a fact,  and  were  affrighted 
at  sight  of  Him,  supposing  it  was  a spirit,  while  they  could 
hardly  withdraw  their  eyes  from  the  heavens  into  which  He 
had  disappeared,  yet  went  submissively  into  Jerusalem,  their 
lesson  learned,  and  tarried  there  as  the  Master  had  com- 
manded, meeting  constantly  for  prayer  and  conference, 
until  Pentecost  was  fully  come. 

In  such  manner  Jesus  fulfilled  his  own  words  : “I  came 
that  they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  abundantly.”  The 
religion  of  form  must  give  way  to  that  of  the  heart.  The 
letter  that  killeth  must  break  down  before  the  Spirit  that 
giveth  life.  The  loved  form  of  the  Master  must  be  so  com- 
pletely forgotten  that  Paul  should  be  able  to  say,  “ Even 
though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  now  we 
know  Him  so  no  more.”  The  men  and  women  who  had  been 
affrighted  at  every  new  manifestation  of  the  power  and  glory 
of  Christ,  and  had  fled  for  their  lives,  were  to  become  as 
bold  as  lions.  The  same  Peter  who  had  sworn  that  he  had 


6 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


never  seen  Jesus,  was  to  stand  in  the  most  august  presence 
in  Judea  and  accuse  the  Sanhedrim  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree,  and  men  were  to  explain  the  transition  by  taking 
knowledge  of  them  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus.  So  the 
expressed  purpose  of  his  coming  was  fulfilled  upon  the  little 
band  who  gathered  about  Him  in  His  earthly  pilgrimage,  and 
in  like  manner  it  was  and  is  to  be  fulfilled  through  all  time. 
Without  His  coming  there  would  be  no  significance  in  the 
coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  He  was  to  use  the  work  that 
the  Saviour  had  done,  and  without  that  work  there  was  no 
means  of  action  whatever  for  the  Spirit.  So  on  the  human 
side,  there  is  no  opportunity  for  the  Spirit  until  He  can 
bring  home  to  the  soul  this  fact  that  Jesus  came.  Here  is 
at  once  the  inspiration  and  the  method  of  all  successful 
missions  — the  fact  that  Jesus  came,  the  purpose  for  which 
He  came,  the  abundance  of  that  purpose.  The  Holy  Spirit 
is  to  use  these  facts  to  inspire  a like  willingness  for  sacrifice 
in  those  to  whom  Christ  has  come.  He  is  to  carry  these 
thoughts  as  basal  facts  to  men  who  are  lost  in  sin,  and  who 
can  never  rise  above  their  inheritance  until  the  Holy  Spirit 
brings  through  human  lips  the  same  old  story  that  has 
made  this  earth  increasingly  beautiful  through  nineteen 
centuries. 

I.  “/  came."  A simple  enough  statement  of  fact,  but 
pregnant  with  mighty  truth.  Here  is  a startling  use  of 
tense:  “the  thief  cometh,”  “ I came.”  The  thief  is  always 
coming  ; the  struggle  is  always  on  ; but  the  Saviour  came 
once.  The  thief  comes  this  night,  and  tomorrow,  and  every 
night ; but  that  one  coming  of  Christ  long  ago  has  set  in 
motion  agencies  that  will  be  powerful  under  the  impulse  of 
the  Spirit,  and  will  make  it  possible  to  conquer  the  thief. 
The  purpose  is  not  that  He  shall  come  whenever  the  thief 
appears,  but  that  He  shall  furnish  the  Holy  Spirit  the  means 
whereby  He  may  strengthen  every  man  for  his  own  great 
battle,  and  enable  him  to  win  the  victory. 

Why  repeat  this  truth  now  i'  Is  not  the  historical  fact 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


7 


that  Jesus  came  admitted  well-nigh  universally  among  intel- 
ligent people } There  was  never  a time  when  so  large  a part 
of  humanity  believed  that  Jesus  came  as  just  now  ; that 
name  was  never  upon  so  many  tongues,  and  never  com- 
manded so  great  respect.  Infidelity  has  never  had  so  weak 
a hold  on  the  reading  public.  Ten  years  ago  the  writings  of 
agnosticism  were  thrust  before  you  at  every  turn  ; the  train 
boy  handed  you  that  class  of  literature  at  the  start ; if  that 
was  not  wanted  he  had  something  else  in  reserve,  light 
literature,  possibly  some  religious  book,  but  not  religious 
enough  to  offend  any  one.  Now  it  is  quite  probable  that  the 
first  book  laid  on  the  lap  in  any  train  will  be  “ In  His  Steps.” 
A news  agent  testified  not  long  ago  that  it  was  his  best 
selling  book.  Let  them  criticise  it  if  they  must  ; it  is  being 
read,  and  is  having  a mighty  influence  to  turn  the  thought  of 
humanity  to  the  fact  that  Jesus  came  ; no  one  can  read  it 
carefully  witliout  being  impressed  with  the  fact  that  His 
coming  was  of  more  than  ordinary  importance,  since  it  has 
led  to  a story  of  such  consecration  at  this  distance  in  time. 
What  a large  proportion  of  the  literature  of  the  present  is 
founded  upon  that  coming ! A few  years  ago  we  were 
mourning  because  the  taste  of  the  young  turned  so  generally 
to  a trashy  kind  of  writings.  It  is  fashionable  now  to  read 
the  books  that  are  founded  on  the  fact  that  Jesus  came  ; 
turn  whichever  way  we  will,  there  is  cheering  evidence  of  the 
truth  that  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  shall 
confess.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a great  tide  that  is  sweeping 
all  human  thought  before  it.  Shall  we  not  be  content,  and 
remember  that  the  Spirit  who  has  made  such  successful  use 
of  the  coming  thus  far  will  carry  it  on  to  its  great  consum- 
mation ? 

But  the  historical  fact  is  the  smallest  part  of  it.  A large 
proportion  of  those  who  admit  that  Jesus  came,  see  no  great 
significance  in  it  unless  it  touches  their  self-interest.  The 
name  of  Jesus  has  never  been  on  the  lips  of  laboring  men  so 
generally  as  now ; gatherings  of  workingmen  have  actually 


8 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


cheered  when  that  name  was  mentioned,  and  many  of  them 
have  gone  home  to  find  out  about  Him  more  than  they  knew 
before.  This  is  well,  but  it  has  been  largely  because  He  was 
a carpenter,  and  they  are  carpenters.  Not  Jesus  as  a Sav- 
iour, but  Jesus  as  a carpenter,  to  help  them  to  higher  wages 
and  an  easier  life.  Now  how  much  soever  we  may  desire  that 
every  man  may  get  the  highest  wages  he  can  earn,  and  every 
true  Christian  has  that  desire,  it  was  not  the  prime  object  of 
the  advent  of  Jesus,  When  one  came  to  Him  to  plead  for 
some  change  in  his  social  condition  he  received  the  caution 
to  take  heed  and  beware  of  covetousness.  Strong  words 
were  spoken  against  the  sin  of  acquiring  for  the  sake  of 
having,  or  of  spending  for  selfish  pleasure,  words  that  apply 
to  every  class  in  the  community.  More  than  that,  when 
Jesus  touched  a man  he  left  his  trade  and  lived  by  faith. 
Ours  is  an  age  of  unrest  and  ambition,  much  of  it  worthy, 
and  we  believe  we  are  on  the  eve  of  great  changes,  where 
more  even  justice  can  be  done  to  all,  but  that  does  not 
warrant  us  in  using  the  name  of  Jesus  to  conjure  with.  All 
this  ambition,  and  the  great  uprising  of  humanity  in  every 
way,  are  due  to  the  fact  that  Jesus  could  say  “ I came.”  But 
they  are  incidental.  The  truth  of  His  coming  cannot  be 
successfully  proclaimed  in  any  place  without  an  appreciable 
rising  in  the  scale  of  being;  but  there  is  no  promise  that  the 
Spirit  will  use  His  coming  first  of  all  to  promote  selfishness. 
Not  to  possess  more,  but  to  use  more  for  blessing  others,  is 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit.  Jesus  came  that  we  may  learn  to 
forget  self,  and  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves. 

While  a great  multitude  are  learning  to  have  a sort  of 
love  for  the  name  of  Jesus,  not  many  are  finding  what  is  the 
real  heart  of  Christ.  Though  it  is  true  that  we  have  more 
books  and  better  teaching  now  on  the  inner  life  of  Christ,  it 
is  also  true  that  a great  multitude  are  satisfied  with  the 
historical  fact  that  Jesus  came.  The  friendship  of  some  is 
one  of  the  hardest  tests  of  the  divine  force  in  the  world. 
Just  now  there  is  a tendency  among  thoughtful  Jews  to  admit 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


9 


the  excellent  character  and  blameless  life  of  Jesus.  One 
public  address  at  least,  by  a Jewish  business  man,  tells  how 
he  was  taught  that  all  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews  were  due  to 
the  teachings  of  Jesus;  how  he  was  led  to  read  and  think  for 
himself,  with  the  result  that  he  found  that  Jesus  was  a Jew, 
faithful  to  His  people,  who  spiritualized  the  Old  Testament 
teachings;  then  he  thinks  that  Paul,  without  the  aid  or  sym- 
pathy of  Jesus,  spread  his  teachings  among  the  Gentiles. 
He  expresses  the  greatest  admiration  for  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ; 
and  leading  rabbis  state  that  this  man’s  view  is  that  of  many 
intelligent  and  thoughtful  Jews.  The  chief  rabbi  of  Eng- 
land lately  expressed  sentiments  that  might  easily  have  been 
suggested  by  Him  whom  we  Christians  adore.  We  are  glad 
for  so  much  ; it  marks  a tendency  in  the  right  direction,  but 
as  yet  only  a tendency ; and  with  the  intimate  relations  of 
Jew  and  Gentile  it  is  a dangerous  tendency  to  some.  When 
intelligent  Jews  see  that  the  wonderful  prophecy,  that  “the 
tribe  shall  not  depart  from  Judah  nor  a lawgiver  from  be- 
tween his  feet  till  Shiloh  come,”  was  wonderfully  fulfilled  in 
the  preservation  of  the  integrity  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and 
the  continuance  of  the  Sanhedrim  till  Jesus  came,  and  that 
then  they  were  lost  forever ; when  they  see  that  the  power 
of  Jesus  was  not  that  He  was  a Jew,  but  that  the  Divine 
Spirit  dwelt  in  Him,  and  that  He  was  Immanuel,  then  the 
reign  of  the  Spirit  shall  begin  for  them.  In  the  meantime 
many  need  to  study  as  never  before  the  heart  of  Christ,  and 
make  way  for  the  Spirit  in  their  own  hearts,  lest  they  be 
drawn  away  by  the  very  plausibility  of  the  recognition  of 
the  truth  that  Jesus  came.  There  are  subtle  forces  at 
work;  the  multitude  are  compelled  to  accept  Jesus’  state- 
ment, “ I came,”  but  are  industriously  trying  to  admit  only 
so  much  as  they  have  to.  Even  the  spirits  are  called  in  to 
help  ; many  people  who  like  to  be  called  intelligent  are  visit- 
ing spiritualist  mediums,  and  with  wonderful  unanimity  their 
communications  state  that  Jesus  was  the  highest  created 
being,  or  that  He  was  the  greatest  man  that  ever  lived. 


lO 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


Either  the  auto-suggestion  of  the  medium  is  very  strong,  or 
there  are  lying  spirits  about. 

A Volimtary  Coining.  However  we  may  teach  that  He 
was  sent,  there  is  a quiet  statement  of  fact  in  His  words, 
“ I came.”  Our  own  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  will  be  greatly 
enhanced  when  we  realize  how  thoroughly  voluntary  all  His 
acts  were.  We  have  suffered  the  cross,  which  is  the  well 
chosen  symbol  of  his  coming,  to  overshadow  all  else.  It 
was  not  the  fact  that  He  hung  on  the  cross  that  gave  it  its 
significance;  it  was  that  He  hung  there  of  his  own  free  will, 
in  order  that  others  might  not  have  to  hang  there.  “I  have 
power  to  lay  down  my  life,  and  I have  power  to  take  it 
again.”  He  had  power  to  call  for  the  legions  of  angels  who 
were  anxiously  waiting  for  the  command  to  rush  to  His 
help  ; and  He  had,  what  no  one  else  ever  had,  the  power  to 
refrain  from  calling  for  divine  help  in  that  supreme  hour. 
Every  step  of  the  way  He  trod  was  of  His  own  choice  ; the 
first  humble  coming  to  earth  and  each  stage  of  His  journey 
through  it  were  purely  voluntary.  He  foretold  all  his  suffer- 
ings and  triumph  as  something  premeditated  ; three  times 
he  informed  them  that  it  was  predetermined.  This  thought 
grew  upon  Paul  until  he  was  absorbed  in  it;  “have  this 
mind  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus  ; who,  being  in 
the  form  of  God,  counted  it  not  a prize  to  be  on  an  equality 
with  God,  but  emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a ser- 
vant.” And  again,  “He  humbled  himself,  becoming  obedi- 
ent unto  death,  yea,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.”  Here  is 
the  process  from  the  time  He  left  His  throne,  till  the  last 
great  act  of  obedience  was  complete.  Jesus,  not  only  at  the 
cross,  but  from  the  manger  cm,  was  an  all-atoning  sacrifice ; 
and  He  was  that  all-atoning  sacrifice  because  He  chose 
to  be. 

There  is  a wonderful  quality  about  the  peace  of  Jesus 
which  He  promised  to  will  to  His  disciples.  Not  only  His 
.calmness  in  view  of  disaster  and  death,  but  His  evident 
looking  to  these  experiences  as  a part  of  His  own  plan  for 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  H 

His  life,  in  consonance  with  the  plan  of  the  Father,  mark 
this  peace  as  of  a different  quality  from  any  other  on  earth. 
He  is  peaceful  because  He  is  filled  with  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  greatest  mission  ever  known.  He  is  not  startled  at 
arrest,  or  trial,  or  execution,  because  He  has  come  to  them 
all  of  His  own  free  will.  The  consciousness  of  a great  duty 
done,  a grand  privilege  met,  makes  that  peace  so  wonderful. 
“I  came”  means  the  coming  for  one  definite  purpose,  and 
all  the  events  of  the  life  are  a part  of  the  carrying  out  of 
that  purpose.  “For  this  cause  came  I unto  this  hour”  is 
the  key  to  all  His  words  and  acts.  Unless  there  is  life  in 
Him  who  comes  there  will  be  nothing  to  impart  to  those 
He  plans  to  save.  He  must  have  life  enough  to  conquer 
death,  but  there  must  be  more  than  that.  We  can  be  brave 
in  view  of  death  when  it  is  inevitable  ; but  Jesus  was  brave 
and  calm  as  He  planned  to  die.  It  has  been  recently  proved 
that  an  agnostic  can  approach  death  with  a great  degree  of 
calmness ; but  none  but  a God  could  ever  come  to  earth  for 
the  purpose  of  dying,  and  be  calm.  The  peace  of  Jesus  was 
not  the  peace  of  enduring,  but  the  peace  of  deliberate  sacri- 
fice. He  went  to  the  cross,  not  as  many  of  his  disciples 
did  shortly  after,  who  sought  the  crown  of  martyrdom  with 
songs  and  shouts  of  joy,  but  with  a calmness  and  majesty 
that  compelled  the  hardened  centurion  who  executed  him 
to  cry,  “Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God.”  The  death  on  the 
cross  was  the  culmination  of  the  sacrifice,  and  his  peace 
there  was  the  same  as  it  had  been  all  along  the  way.  Jesus 
was  consistent  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  remark- 
able work.  The  life  that  He  came  to  impart  is  as  clearly 
seen  in  each  day’s  work  and  endurance  as  in  the  last.  He 
could  give  life  because  He  had  life.  He  came  to  bring 
divine  life  to  earth. 

It  is  customary  to  dwell  on  the  miracles  in  order  to  show 
His  power  ; yet  the  miracles,  great  though  they  were,  are 
only  incidents  of  His  coming.  We  may  give  them  too  much 
weight  because  they  are  miracles  ; in  performing  them  Jesus 


12 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


was  simply  himself.  In  discussing  His  power  we  have  un- 
wittingly allowed  our  enemies  to  draw  attention  from  the 
heart  of  the  gospel  to  a symptom  of  it.  Instead  of  center- 
ing our  attention  on  the  fact  that  He  came  to  bring  life,  we 
have  been  discussing  the  possibility  of  miracles.  Much  good 
may  have  resulted  from  that  discussion,  and  incidental  proof 
of  Jesus’  mission  may  have  been  drawn  from  it,  but  it  is  high 
time  for  all  believers  to  learn  that  the  real  question  is  not 
whether  miracles  were  performed,  but  whether  He  who  did 
these  things  is  life  in  himself.  John’s  powerful  statement 
needs  careful  study : “ In  Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the 
light  of  men.”  If  there  was  life  in  Him  there  would  cer- 
tainly be  manifestations  of  the  life  out  of  the  common  expe- 
rience of  men,  and  that  in  this  case  makes  them  miracles. 
So  our  study  of  the  possibility  and  the  fact  of  miracles  is 
only  that  we  may  learn  if  there  was  divine  life  in  Him  who 
performed  them.  When  that  is  proved  they  have  little  fur- 
ther significance  for  us.  They  are  only  what  we  would 
expect  of  the  Son  of  God.  They  are  the  acts  of  a loved 
friend,  the  greatest  of  all  friends,  and  as  such  are  dear  to 
us;  but  they  have  real  value  only  as  evidence  of  His  life. 
The  quality  of  the  miracles  is  their  real  power;  Jesus  vol- 
untarily scattered  such  blessing  by  means  of  the  great  life 
He  was,  that  wherever  He  went  men  were  raised  up  from 
their  weak,  lost  condition,  and  Jesus’  life  became  literally 
the  light  of  men.  We  say  that  He  came  voluntarily,  and 
we  have  stated  a great  truth  ; but  when  we  are  able  to  say 
that  He  came  voluntarily  to  bring  light  into  darkened  and 
sin-blinded  lives,  we  have  said  a thousand  times  more.  Just 
as  the  fact  of  His  coming  means  more  as  we  study  it,  so  the 
voluntary  coming  grows  in  significance  as  we  reflect  on  those 
to  whom  He  came,  and  what  was  the  effect  on  them  of  His 
coming. 

The  Manner  of  His  Coming.  There  is  no  more  in- 
structive place  in  His  life  than  that  where  we  at  the  last 
find  Him  praying,  “And  now,  O Father,  glorify  thou  me 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


>3 


with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  that  I had  with  thee 
before  the  world  was.”  We  at  once  ask  why  He  has  not 
now  that  glory,  and  the  only  answer  is  because  He  had 
voluntarily  laid  it  aside  for  the  sake  of  lost  humanity.  It  is 
the  grandest  purpose  ever  revealed.  Peter  the  Great  might 
leave  his  royalty  for  a time  in  order  that  he  might  be  a 
better  king,  but  Jesus  emptied  himself  of  His  glory  in  order 
that  His  subjects  might  become  kings.  He  had  made  him- 
self poor,  that  we  through  His  poverty  might  become  rich. 
And  when  we  say  poor,  we  do  not  mean  poor  as  one  of  us 
would  be;  His  manger  cradle.  His  homeless  life.  His  bor- 
rowed tomb,  are  incidents  of  His  poverty,  but  they  are  not 
that  poverty  itself.  As  the  physical  suffering  was  the  least 
of  the  agony  on  the  cross,  so  the  poverty  in  which  He  lived 
those  three  and  thirty  years  as  regarded  home  and  earthly 
fortune  is  the  smallest  part  of  the  real  poverty  He  knew. 
There  was  a time  in  Christian  development  when  the  thought 
of  the  earthly  poverty  of  the  Master  would  have  great  weight, 
but  we  are  far  enough  advanced  in  spiritual  life  now  to  know 
that  it  is  only  the  husk  of  His  poverty.  He  could  not  have 
come  in  voluntary  poverty  and  not  been  poor  in  this  world’s 
goods  : but  His  real  poverty  was  in  what  He  had  surren- 
dered for  our  sakes.  And  first  we  must  learn,  if  possible, 
how  deep  the  poverty  of  which  He  was  capable.  The  one 
who  has  most  can  lose  most.  The  poverty  of  one  who  has 
been  rich  is  far  greater  than  that  of  one  who  has  never 
known  abundance.  Possibility  of  suffering  grows  with  de- 
velopment. That  wonderful  beatitude,  “ Blessed  are  they 
that  mourn,”  means  nothing  at  all  to  the  savage.  Its  mean- 
ing grows  with  the  refining  of  the  sensibilities.  As  the 
spiritual  takes  precedence,  and  the  physical  is  overcome, 
that  promise  rises  until  we  are  able  to  heartily  thank  God 
for  the  ability  to  mourn.  Carry  the  thought  forward,  and 
what  was  the  capacity  for  mourning  in  Jesus  Christ  ? There 
were  never  such  tears  as  those  He  shed  over  Jerusalem. 
No  sentence  in  the  English  or  any  other  language  contains 


14 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


SO  much  in  so  small  compass  as  those  two  words,  “Jesus 
wept.”  There  was  never  such  love  as  His,  as  He  looked  on 
the  young  man  and  loved  him.  Human  thought  is  powerless 
to  comprehend  the  capacity  of  Jesus  for  love,  for  sorrow, 
and  for  sacrifice.  Then  human  thought  is  powerless  to  com- 
prehend the  poverty  of  Christ. 

No  foreign  missionary  among  a degraded  and  savage 
race  ever  approached  the  condition  of  Jesus  in  this  world. 
Sin  was  on  every  side  of  Him ; wherever  he  turned  the  taint 
was  in  the  air ; every  friend  he  had  was  a sufferer  from  sin, 
and  a sinner.  We  may  picture  to  ourselves  the  Black  Hole 
in  Calcutta,  where  into  a space  some  eighteen  feet  square 
a hundred  and  forty-six  British  soldiers  were  driven  at  the 
point  of  the  sword;  we  may  think  of  the  one  little  opening 
where  air  could  come  in  ; of  the  tainted  air  without,  full  of 
the  smell  of  burning;  we  may  picture  to  ourselves  the  mis- 
erable wretches  crowding  and  struggling  in  their  agonized 
fight  to  get  where  they  could  breathe ; but  we  cannot  for 
one  moment  by  any  such  picturing  get  a conception  of  the 
absolute  poverty  and  loneliness  of  the  Son  of  God  in  this 
world  of  sin.  If  one  can  remember  when,  a pure-hearted 
lad,  he  first  heard  the  conversation  of  those  who  could  not 
speak  without  oaths  and  loathsome  talk,  if  he  can  recall  the 
shuddering  and  fear  that  took  hold  upon  him,  he  may  be 
able  to  get  some  slight  idea  of  what  Jesus  had  to  endure. 
But  we  mortals  become  used  to  such  things;  we  reach  a 
time  when  we  can  hear  an  oath  and  not  shudder.  Jesus 
never  could;  His  spotless  character  revolted  at  sin  as  much 
at  the  end  of  his  life  as  at  its  beginning.  The  temptations 
of  the  forty  days  were  only  the  concentrated  poverty  of  His 
whole  life.  There  is  exquisite  pathos  in  the  statement  after 
it  was  over  that  angels  came  and  ministered  unto  Him  ; one 
breath  of  pure  air  in  the  Black  Hole;  one  moment’s  respite 
in  the  poverty  He  had  assumed.  And  this  poverty  grew 
deeper  and  deeper.  He  must  tread  the  wine  press  alone ; 
He  must  know  the  complete  absence  of  all  the  purity  that 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


15 


belongs  to  heaven,  until  from  His  parched  lips  there  is. 
wrung  the  cry,  “My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  ? ” 

One  of  the  principal  aggravations  of  this  poverty  was 
that  as  a result  of  sin  men  could  not  understand  the  mission 
of  Christ,  nor  can  they  yet.  It  grows  upon  us  with  passing 
generations,  but  it  may  safely  be  said  that  we  do  not  yet 
grasp  more  than  the  smallest  fraction  of  what  He  came  to 
do.  Even  His  divine  patience  was  so  intensely  tried  that 
now  and  then  His  face  was  turned  heavenward,  with  excla- 
mations on  the  absolute  lack  of  faith  of  those  about  Him. 
His  mission  was  misunderstood  from  the  start.  Men  were 
looking  for  freedom  from  their  most  galling  yoke,  and  that 
just  then  was  Roman  bondage ; in  their  eagerness  to  escape 
from  that  they  were  ready  to  crucify  any  Saviour  who  did 
not  make  that  his  chief  concern.  The  very  disciples  whom 
He  gathered  never  understood  Him  until  He  was  gone. 
Judas,  in  disgust  that  Jesus  did  not  take  the  sword  and  the 
scepter,  let  his  own  cupidity  have  full  reign,  and  betrayed 
his  Master ; Peter  in  abject  hopelessness  became  a coward 
and  denied  Him.  And  even  after  the  resurrection,  when 
His  presence  was  more  sacred  than  ever,  the  great  question 
that  arose  in  their  minds  was,  “Wilt  thou  at  this  time  re- 
store the  kingdom  to  Israel  ? ” After  the  reign  of  the  Spirit 
had  begun,  and  till  the  present  moment,  men  have  always 
been  ready  to  make  the  earthly  kingdom  their  chief  thought 
in  relation  to  Christ.  From  that  hour  when  the  sons  of 
thunder  wanted  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  on  the  city 
that  would  not  receive  Him,  to  the  latest  diatribe  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  against  existing  social  conditions,  men  have 
been  ready  at  any  moment  to  sacrifice  the  heart  of  Christ 
for  a little  momentary  gain  in  worldly  advantage  over  those 
from  whom  they  differed. 

II.  “ T/iat  They  May  Have  Life."  We  in  our  short- 
sightedness allow  our  sympathy  to  become  sentimental,  and 
hasten  to  carry  to  others  the  results  of  life,  its  conven- 


i6 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


iences ; we  long  to  teach  others  the  value  of  a Christian 
civilization  ; we  would  like  to  give  them  our  methods,  and 
the  means  whereby  we  have  achieved  success,  but  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  is  not  like  that.  There  is  the  same  divine  order 
in  this  gift  as  in  that  of  inspiration.  Jesus  did  not  bring  one 
result  of  the  life  He  gives  into  this  world  with  Him  ; they 
will  all  develop  themselves  in  time.  It  is  self-developing 
power  that  He  bestows ; all  the  rest  will  follow.  No  long- 
ing that  others  may  be  as  we  are  should  ever  for  one  mo- 
ment turn  our  attention  from  the  one  great  purpose  Jesus 
states,  “That  they  may  have  life.”  Not  method,  but  life; 
not  what  life  has  developed  in  others,  but  life  in  order  to 
develop  for  themselves. 

The  World's  Need.  The  more  we  study  history  the 
more  we  are  impressed  with  its  uncompleted  beginnings. 
That  tower  of  Babel,  standing  unfinished  under  the  eastern 
sky,  is  a type  of  more  things  than  the  confusion  of  tongues. 
It  has  its  antitype  in  the  ruins  along  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris,  in  the  meager  remains  of  the  primitive  races  of 
Palestine,  in  the  monuments  of  Egypt.  History  is  a record 
of  continual  risings  and  falls ; race  has  succeeded  race, 
civilization  has  crowded  civilization,  and  the  center  of  light 
and  influence  has  ever  moved  on.  The  Hebrew  gave  the 
knowledge  of  one  God,  and  was  exiled.  The  Greek  gave 
one  language  to  commerce  that  Paul  might  speak  of  Christ 
in  any  city  in  the  world,  and  became  an  ancient  art  gallery, 
without  life,  and  with  no  power  of  self-continuance.  Rome 
gave  one  government,  until  the  teachings  of  Jesus  had  taken 
root,  and  then  broke  up  into  fragments  that  had  no  resem- 
blance to  an  empire.  The  history  of  the  races  of  the  earth 
has  been  a continual  crescendo,  ending  in  diminuendo.  A 
nation  has  come  to  the  front,  acted  its  part  for  a little,  lost 
its  hold,  and  gone  into  desuetude,  only  to  give  opportunity 
for  another  to  do  the  same.  And  all  through  this  wearisome 
progress  there  has  been  an  ever-increasing  wail,  a moaning 
for  something  that  is  not.  Men  have  risen  who  have  had  a 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


17 


greater  grasp  of  truth  than  others,  and  have  swayed  the 
multitude  for  a time,  but  with  their  death  the  refle.x  wave 
has  swept  away  their  power.  Pericles,  who  never  began  any 
important  matter  without  prayer,  was  able  to  give  Greece  a 
golden  age  ; while  he  lived  Athens  was  great ; so  long  as  his 
noble  purpose  and  strong  hand  were  able  to  make  themselves 
felt  Athens  was  a power,  but  when  he  died  the  forces  he  had 
controlled  broke  loose,  and  Athens  became  the  home  of 
babblers  and  sneering  philosophers  that  Paul  found.  All 
history  is  full  of  the  thought  that  there  are  possibilities  for 
humanity  which  have  never  been  realized.  Many  times  a 
race  has  been  like  Paldasarre,  the  old  man  in  Romola,  who 
pored  over  the  Greek  te.xt  with  tears  running  down  his 
cheeks,  and  knew  he  had  read  it  once,  and  thought  he 
could  almost  make  it  out,  but  the  paralysis  of  power  was 
final. 

There  is  great  unrest  in  this  world  today.  In  every 
civilized  race  a revolution  seems  imminent.  Questions  that 
will  not  down  are  making  the  future  uncertain.  That  beau- 
tiful simplicity  and  trust  in  the  relation  of  capital  and  labor 
that  appear  in  the  Book  of  Ruth  have  long  been  gone ; we 
see  two  great  factors  in  the  world’s  work  arrayed  against 
each  other,  and  sometimes  it  looks  like  a death  grapple.  The 
leading  nations  of  the  civilized  world  have  accepted  democ- 
racy in  whole  or  in  part,  and  with  it  has  come  the  rising  of 
the  degraded  classes,  the  education  of  those  who  will  accept 
it,  deeper  thought,  the  desire  for  self-improvement,  ambitions 
that  have  never  been  able  to  find  such  general  expression 
before.  All  the  pent-up  forces  of  humanity  have  been  let 
loose,  and  Icarus  is  flying  perilously  near  the  sun.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  races  that  we  call  uncivilized  are  coming  in 
such  close  touch  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  they  are 
really  a part  of  us.  The  theater  of  the  world’s  action  has 
shifted,  and  the  far-away  islands  to  which  we  used  to  send 
missionaries,  with  the  thought  that  we  would  probably  never 
see  them  again,  are  now  at  our  doors.  We  have  been  pulling 


i8 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


out  our  atlases,  and  locating  the  Philippines,  and  Carolines, 
and  Ladrones.  China  can  no  longer  be  a recluse  ; Corea  will 
not  again  be  a hermit  nation  ; Japan  is  suddenly  a young 
giant,  springing  up  full  armed,  and  bright  with  the  promise 
of  the  sunrise.  But  through  all  this  wonderful  change  there 
runs  the  discord  of  human  selfishness.  We  are  reminded 
that  civilization  that  is  not  founded  on  eternal  principles  can- 
not stand,  and  ever  there  rises  a cry  for  more  than  armies 
and  governors  can  give.  Unless  these  ambitions  and  long- 
ings in  nations  civilized  and  savage  can  be  met  by  something 
more  than  diplomacy  and  force  they  will  only  end  in  self- 
destruction. 

Why  has  the  religious  instinct  been  given,  except  that 
like  all  other  appetites  there  should  be  an  answer  from  God 
possible  ? He  who  said  “ Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,”  said 
also,j“  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness.” From  Plutarch’s  day  to  the  present  observing 
minds  have  seen  the  power  and  the  beauty  of  the  faculty  of 
praise  to  God.  But  this  appetite  has  been  given  in  order 
that  Jesus  might  have  the  opportunity  to  bestow  that  which 
He  brought  to  earth.  The  world’s  need  is  not  government, 
not  armies,  not  diplomacy,  but  life.  We  live  in  the  dream 
that  a race  shall  arise  that  can  not  only  achieve  victories,  but 
can  endure  success  ; that  shall  not  be  intoxicated  with  its 
own  power,  but  shall  see  in  strength  a grand  opportunity,  and 
in  the  millions  of  human  beings  that  come  under  its  influence 
the  greatest  missionary  call  of  the  ages.  Wherever  we  look 
we  see  a world  that  has  made  some  progress  and  stopped, 
that  has  achieved  some  little  success,  and  then  lost  its 
inspiration,  and  suffered  stagnation.  If  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  and  its  mother,  the  Teutonic,  cannot  raise  themselves 
with  God’s  help  to  this  height  of  privilege,  the  scepter  will 
depart  from  them,  and  among  the  effete  races  of  the  East 
will  come  a stirring  of  the  dry  bones  ; the  breath  of  God  will 
blow  upon  them,  and  the  true  missionary  spirit  will  assert  its 
privilege.  The  world  is  waiting  yet  as  it  waited  in  Jesus’ 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


19 


day ; and  while  the  church  disputes  over  forms  and  ceremo- 
nies and  methods,  and  its  heart  grows  cold,  the  wail  of  Mary 
at  the  sepulcher  goes  ever  up  to  God:  “They  have  taken 
away  my  Lord,  and  I know  not  where  they  have  laid  Him.” 
The  world  waits,  as  it  has  ever  waited,  for  the  living  Christ. 

The  World's  Lost  Opportunities.  In  the  story  of  the 
man  who  was  an  householder  there  is  a principle  of  wider 
interpretation  than  the  Jewish  race  has  suggested;  humanity 
has  always  been  treating  God’s  gifts  as  if  they  were  their 
own,  and  has  slain  the  Son  when  He  came  to  claim  His 
right.  The  lord  of  the  vineyard  has  always  been  destroying 
the  husbandmen  and  letting  out  his  vineyard  to  others.  To 
state  it  differently,  the  world  has  many  times  had  light 
enough  by  which  to  find  the  life  God  had  in  store  for  it,  and 
each  time  it  has  been  placeJ  under  a measure,  and  its  power 
has  been  lost.  The  study  of  philology  has  shown  that  at 
least  a large  part  of  the  human  race  once  dwelt  under  one 
roof  and  spoke  one  language,  and  the  strongest  proof  of  it 
is  in  the  words  that  sprung  from  the  religious  life.  God  has 
singled  out  particular  races  and  given  them  special  knowl- 
edge, but  it  has  been  lost.  Paul’s  visit  to  Athens  was  in  her 
decay;  Sparta  had  long  before  gained  the  ascendency;  forti- 
fications, religion,  philosophy,  were  wrecked  at  Athens. 
The  consecrated  visitor  was  keen  to  select  the  most  touching 
relic  of  a great  past,  and  make  it  the  text  for  the  grandest 
address  ever  delivered.  The  altar  to  the  unknown  god  was 
not  an  incident  of  their  worship,  but  the  poor  and  lonely 
remains  of  what  had  been  the  origin  of  their  greatness.  It 
had  come  to  them  from  their  ancestors,  the  Pelasgi,  who  wor- 
shiped the  supreme  God  without  temples  or  images,  and 
whose  altars  flamed  from  the  highest  mountain  tops.  They 
even  worshiped  Him  without  a name,  suggesting  the  unpro- 
nounceable name  among  the  Hebrews.  Zeus  means  the 
heavens.  When  they  wished  to  imply  a nearer  relation  they 
called  Him  Zeus  Pater,  almost  identically  the  Saviour’s 
expression,  “Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven.”  Here  is  the 


20 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


beginning  of  Greek  history,  before  the  Doric  and  Ionic 
invasions  had  made  confusion  of  thought,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  commercial  spirit  had  made  men  selfish.  Our 
first  vision  of  the  race  that  was  to  give  the  world  its  best 
philosophy  and  finest  art  is  of  a simple  people,  kneeling  under 
the  open  sky  and  worshiping  the  unseen  author  of  their 
world.  They  kept  their  reverence  for  the  unseen,  but  so 
mingled  it  with  superstition  and  polytheism  that  all  that  was 
left  when  Paul  came  was  that  one  altar.  Instead  of  worship 
of  God  under  the  open  sky  there  was  Delphi,  the  mother  of 
superstition  and  craven  fear. 

No  race  can  be  studied  until  we  have  some  knowledge 
of  its  religious  life.  God  has  ordained  that  in  the  starting  of 
a new  world  force  there  shall  be  the  impulse  of  a purer  wor- 
ship than  has  been.  But  it  is  not  alone  at  the  beginning ; 
nations  have  become  and  remained  great  according  to  the 
religious  impulse  they  have  received  and  preserved,  and 
when  that  has  been  lost,  their  decline  and  fall  have  begun. 
English  history  begins  at  Carnac  and  Stonehenge.  Call 
Druidism  heathen  if  you  will,  it  had  much  to  do  with  the 
formation  of  Anglo-Saxon  character.  The  civilizations  of  the 
Saxon  and  the  Teuton  are  what  they  are  today  because  the 
moral  impulse  with  which  they  started  was  not  lost  in  doubt 
and  scoffing,  but  followed  by  a purer  and  diviner  impulse  that 
carried  forward  what  had  been  fairly  well  begun.  Too  much 
credit  cannot  be  given  to  those  first  missionaries  who  carried 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  among  the  races  that  had 
become  hardy  by  exposure,  and  whose  first  faith  in  Christi- 
anity was  as  simple  as  that  of  a little  child.  Gibbon  tells  us 
that  the  civilizations  of  today  came  out  of  the  forests  of 
England  and  Germany,  but  they  did  not  emerge  until 
Christian  missionaries  had  gone  in,  and  Boniface  had  not 
only  dared  to  chop  down  the  sacred  oak,  but  had  it  cut  into 
timbers,  with  which  to  build  a chapel  for  the  worship  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  history  of  races  that  have  kept  their  inspira- 
tion shows  in  startling  contrast  those  that  did  not.  The 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT,  2 1 

Pelasgi  were  not  the  only  people  of  the  olden  time  who  had 
a pure  worship  ; that  of  the  early  Persians  is  almost  as  clear 
as  that  of  the  nations  of  modern  times.  In  fact,  the  more 
we  study  the  races  of  antiquity  the  more  clearly  this  point 
appears,  that  Paul  was  right  when  he  said  God  had  not  left 
Himself  without  a witness.  The  difficulty  has  always  been 
to  lead  the  people  to  keep  the  witness  after  its  divine 
impartation. 

The  most  startling  instance  in  all  history  is  that  which 
confronted  Jesus  at  every  step.  The  law  as  revealed  in  the 
Old  Testament  has  in  it  all  the  teaching  that  is  necessary 
to  make  men  godlike.  Whenever  Jesus  was  appealed  to 
for  the  heart  of  his  teachings  He  went  right  to  the  Law. 
A modern  Jew  finds  all  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  is  astonished  at  the  beauty  and  force  it 
possesses  when  Jesus  has  spiritualized  it.  One  thing  only 
is  lacking,  and  that  is  the  life  that  the  Saviour  brought. 
Because  of  this  lack  men  had  allowed  the  Law  to  degener- 
ate into  a heavy  weight,  a matter  of  casuistry  that  made  the 
people  moral  cowards.  As  a result  of  moral  disintegration 
a large  part  of  the  nation  had  been  deported,  and  had  never 
come  back.  The  rest  had  suffered  deportation,  and  only 
through  the  general  policy  pursued  by  Cyrus  of  reinhabit- 
ing desolated  lands  with  their  own  people  did  it  come  to  pass 
that  the  poorest  part  of  Judah  returned  and  rebuilt  the  wall 
and  the  temple.  The  then  modern  students  of  the  Law  had 
added  interpretation  to  interpretation,  until  a plain  man  had 
difficulty  in  worshiping  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Hence 
the  surprise  with  which  men  said,  “Never  man  spake  like 
this  man.”  In  all  human  history  no  greater  contrast  could 
be  found  than  that  between  the  scribes  and  the  Saviour. 
The  Jewish  race  had  lost  the  inspiration  given  them  through 
Moses,  and  like  other  races  had  degenerated  into  a supersti- 
tious formalism.  Now  we  know  what  the  Saviour  meant 
when  He  said,  “Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth.  But  if  the 
salt  have  lost  its  savor,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted  ? ” Other 


22 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


peoples  have  had  opportunity  ; you  have  life  ; but  if  you  lose 
that  life  there  is  no  further  hope  either  for  you  or  those  to 
whom  you  are  sent  to  impart  this  life.  The  fatherhood  of 
God  has  been  revealed  before,  but  men  have  not  appre- 
hended it ; you  are  sent  out  to  carry  it  as  the  Son  has  re- 
vealed it ; you  carry  the  means  of  salvation ; be  careful  not 
to  lose  it. 

The  Life  Jesus  Imparted  is  a Moral  and  Spiritual 
Power.  Life  is  more  than  existence.  The  sheep  are  alive  ; 
the  thief  comes  to  kill ; the  Saviour  came  to  keep  alive,  but 
more  than  that,  to  lead  them  in  green  pastures  and  beside 
still  waters,  that  their  life  may  be  abundant.  Life  means 
progress,  growth,  development.  If  the  eternal  life  Jesus 
came  to  give  were  nothing  more  than  the  privilege  of  eter- 
nal existence  we  would  not  crave  it.  But  “This  is  life 
eternal,  that  they  may  know  thee,  the  only  living  and  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent.”  So  of  life 
here ; under  the  impulse  of  the  love  of  Christ  life  becomes 
worth  living.  He  is  the  moral  and  spiritual  force  that  moves 
the  world.  There  is  deep  significance  in  the  words  of  the 
late  Lord  Beaconsfield,  when  he  called  the  attention  of  think- 
ing people  to  the  fact  that  the  nations  that  are  leading  the 
world  in  art  and  science  and  everything  that  is  worth  the 
having,  are  the  nations  where  Jesus  Christ  is  most  earnestly 
preached  and  most  faithfully  worshiped.  That  great  Jew  had 
his  eyes  open,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  what  he  saw.  There 
has  been  remarkable  preserving  and  developing  power  where 
Jesus  has  been  preached  until  the  heart  yielded.  Something 
has  been  at  work  on  these  races ; others  have  had  equal  op- 
portunities ; China  discovered  several  of  our  most  valuable 
improvements  long  before  we  did  ; with  gunpowder  she  made 
nothing  more  destructive  than  fire-crackers  ; with  the  begin- 
ning of  the  mariner’s  compass  she  has  the  record  of  sending 
only  one  small  squadron  a few  miles  from  sight  of  land. 
With  the  secret  of  movable  type  she  printed  no  book.  The 
difference  between  China  and  Germany  is  the  difference 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


23 


between  a race  that  has  no  personality  because  it  has  no 
conception  of  the  real  fatherhood  of  God,  and  one  that  has 
a moral  purpose,  great  and  abiding.  The  people  who  gath- 
ered on  the  housetops  at  Worms  as  Luther  went  by  to  his 
great  trial,  and  besought  him  to  be  firm,  and  cjuoted  passages 
of  the  Word  of  God  to  cheer  and  strengthen  him,  had  life. 
No  uncertainty  there,  no  wavering,  no  clinging  to  ancestral 
traditions  simply  because  they  are  old.  They  were  own  cous- 
ins to  Cromwell’s  Ironsides,  of  the  same  stock  and  with  the 
same  spirit. 

This  national  or  racial  life  is  entirely  dependent  on  indi- 
vidual life.  Sociological  studies  have  of  late  somewhat  ob- 
scured this ; we  are  at  our  old  trick  of  inverting  the  divine 
order.  We  forget  that  when  the  Saviour  had  the  opportu- 
nity of  His  life,  as  the  world  sees  it.  He  deliberately  turned 
away  from  the  multitudes,  telling  them  they  were  after  the 
loaves  and  fishes,  and  devoted  himself  to  training  the  few 
who  were  willing  to  give  up  all  for  Him.  Cromwell  had 
caught  his  method  when  he  declared  that  he  believed  that 
a few  honest  men  were  better  than  numbers,  and  formed  his 
army  of  a thousand  who  were  never  defeated,  and  who  in 
many  battles  saved  the  day  for  those  who  in  Cromwell’s 
phrase  were  not  so  honest.  We  are  in  danger  of  doing  in 
religion  what  we  have  long  done  in  public  charities,  of  train- 
ing up  a great  army  in  the  church  who  are  there  for  the 
loaves  and  fishes.  The  part  of  the  church  that  does  the 
work,  bears  the  burden,  gives  to  missions,  sends  the  gospel 
round  the  world,  may  all  be  comprehended  in  that  not  very 
large  number  proportionately  who  are  in  the  church  simply 
and  solely  for  the  life  it  gives.  For  when  the  life  of  Jesus 
takes  hold  upon  a man  it  quickens  all  his  faculties,  clarifies 
his  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong,  stirs  him  up  to  do 
for  others  as  he  would  have  others  do  for  him,  makes  him  in 
every  sense  a new  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  Christian  philos- 
ophers in  coming  days  may  have  occasion  to  associate  in 
thought  the  increasing  sluggishness  in  general  Christian 


24 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


benevolence  in  our  clay  with  the  tendency  to  try  to  human- 
ize the  church,  thereby  attracting  attention  to  the  outward 
and  visible,  and  losing  sight  of  the  value  Jesus  puts  on  an 
immortal  soul.  In  attempting  to  put  greater  stress  on  the 
command  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourself  we  may  forget,  as 
some  so-called  Christians  have  been  glad  to  do,  that  it  is 
founded  wholly  on  the  other  and  greater,  “Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God.”  The  second  commandment  never  can 
last  permanently  when  it  is  robbed  of  its  power  by  belittling 
the  first.  The  disciples  whom  Jesus  trained  to  love  God 
first  through  Himself  went  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  for  His 
sake,  not  for  the  sake  of  humanity ; there  was  ever  before 
them  the  fact  that  the  Master  was  with  them  and  knew 
their  work.  Paul  was  a debtor  to  all  the  earth  because  his 
sins  had  been  forgiven  through  Jesus. 

When  the  life  forces  are  low,  and  death  seems  inevita- 
ble, the  skill  of  the  physician  and  the  care  of  the  nurse,  no 
matter  how  well  they  are  given,  lose  all  their  power ; they 
are  only  valuable  as  aids  to  the  life.  The  patient  lies  for 
weeks  at  the  point  of  death ; the  doctors  give  him  up ; the 
pulse  is  only  a slight  flutter  that  will  go  out  in  a moment. 
There  comes  a morning  when  the  family  gather  about  the 
bed,  and  watch  the  slow,  heavy  breathing  that  does  not  pen- 
etrate the  lungs  ; it  becomes  slower  and  slower  ; it  stops  ; 
there  is  no  pulse ; the  nurse  says  it  is  over.  A few  minutes 
later  it  is  noticed  that  a faint  breathing  has  commenced 
again ; it  seems  a miracle,  but  it  is  a fact.  The  doctor  says 
frankly  that  medicine  has  not  done  it.  The  breathing  grad- 
ually gains  in  strength  ; after  a day  or  two  the  patient  opens 
his  eyes  and  looks  faintly  upward  ; there  comes  a day  when  the 
nurse  points  out  a slight  appearance  of  returning  flesh  where 
the  bones  have  been  absolutely  bare ; it  becomes  more  and 
more  noticeable,  then  a slight  use  of  the  hands  and  arms,  then 
of  the  lower  limbs.  It  is  a great  day  when  he  first  sits  up,  a 
greater  when  he  takes  his  first  step.  He  continues  to  gain 
until  every  sense  has  returned  in  all  its  power,  and  the  lad  is 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


25 


Stronger  and  brighter  than  he  was  before.  Scientific  men 
say  it  is  one  of  those  constitutions  that  endure  in  spite  of 
death  itself.  But  the  secret  of  it  all  is  life ; the  life  had 
never  left  the  body;  it  conquered  disease  and  death  itself, 
and  under  its  power  the  boy  becomes  a man.  Now  is  there 
any  point  in  this  recovery  where  we  dare  to  say  that  we  will 
depend  no  longer  on  life  forces,  but  on  externals.^  Jesus 
tells  us  that  in  Him  is  life,  and  He  intends  us  to  understand 
that  this  life  is  to  have  its  work  even  to  the  end.  There  will 
never  be  a day  when  we  can  help  that  convalescent  by  treat- 
ing a class,  and  so  expecting  to  build  him  up.  The  conser- 
vation of  life  in  the  one  who  has  been  sick  demands  all  our 
thought.  So  with  the  soul  that  has  life  through  the  Saviour; 
the  only  possibility  for  it  is  the  love  of  Christ  for  him,  and 
the  inspiration  that  Jesus  has  for  him,  that  he  may  be  the 
channel  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit  carries  the  glad 
tidings  to  another.  Christ  treated  souls  as  individuals ; the 
result  was  the  grandest  missionary  impulse  the  world  has 
ever  seen. 

III.  And  May  Have  Abundance.  The  verb  here  is 
closely  associated  with  the  fullness  of  the  promise;  “may 
continue  to  have”  would  be  its  full  meaning;  it  is  in  the 
present  subjunctive.  It  is  a continual  having,  not  getting 
nor  giving,  but  having,  and  because  of  this  having  it  means 
growing  abundance.  Not  having  abundantly,  but  having 
abundance ; the  word  that  is  timidly  placed  in  the  margin  of 
the  Revised  Version  is  the  real  meaning.  The  Saviour  is 
promising  not  only  abundance  of  life,  but  the  abundance 
that  goes  with  abundant  life.  It  is  a large  promise,  worthy 
of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  limitless.  It  is  a standing  rebuke 
to  our  willingness  to  take  only  salvation  at  His  hands. 

Lt/e  for  Self-Purificatioti.  This  differentiates  Christi- 
anity from  other  religions.  It  has  the  power  of  self-develop- 
ment and  self-purification.  It  is  always  better  farther  on. 
It  places  an  ideal  before  the  eyes  today,  and  when  that  has 
been  achieved  or  almost  reached  it  has  another  a step  beyond. 


26 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


A Christian  man  becomes  dissatisfied  with  his  own  short- 
comings, and  reforms  within  himself.  A monk,  trained  in  an 
Augustinian  convent,  started  the  reformation  in  Germany. 
The  beginners  in  that  mighty  movement  were  in  the  heart 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  obtained  their  education 
there.  The  Bible  had  found  them  in  the  course  of  their 
studies,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  had  made  use  of  the  same 
weapons  He  always  does,  with  the  result  that  their  eyes  were 
opened,  and  they  longed  for  the  purifying  of  the  church. 
However  selfish  the  motives  of  Henry  VHI  may  have  been, 
his  reformation  was  a step  in  advance,  beginning  within  the 
church,  and  made  the  way  possible  for  the  Puritan  and  the 
Pilgrim  who  followed.  The  Reformation,  that  was  stayed  in 
some  parts  of  the  Continent  of  Europe,  has  had  its  way 
among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  working  until  now,  and  the  end  is 
not  yet.  There  is  iron  in  the  blood  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and 
it  comes  from  his  belief  in  God  and  His  providence.  No  one 
but  an  Anglo-Saxon  would  have  thought  to  make  the  reply 
of  Ethan  Allen  at  Ticonderoga,  when  the  British  captain 
demanded  his  authority:  “In  the  name  of  the  great  Jehovah 
and  the  Continental  Congress.”  The  English  and  American 
race  has  been  moving  onward  in  the  name  of  the  Great 
Jehovah  for  centuries,  and  has  only  just  begun. 

The  Gaul  and  the  Briton  were  one  in  belief  and  oppor- 
tunity in  the  days  of  the  Druids.  Their  difference  has  been 
the  difference  in  their  writers  and  preachers.  Carlyle  men- 
tions as  three  typical  names  in  English  literature,  Knox, 
Milton,  and  Shakespeare.  You  can  almost  hear  Knox’s 
voice  yet  in  old  St.  Giles,  and  the  unpretentious  little  piece 
of  stone  under  the  wheels  of  the  vehicles  in  Parliament 
Square,  with  its  quaint  “ J.  K.”  upon  it,  brings  up  a flood  of 
memories  of  him  who  feared  neither  man  nor  devil,  but  who 
made  a queen  to  tremble,  and  who  voiced  and  intensified  all 
that  is  strong  and  strength-giving  in  Scotch  belief  and  life. 
Milton,  whose  faith  only  stood  out  more  clearly  as  the  day- 
light was  shut  out  from  his  eyes,  our  own  Independent,  who 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


27 


saw  much  in  God's  providence  that  others  did  not,  who  loved 
the  liberty  with  which  Christ  has  set  us  free,  and  even 
averred  that  “ new  Presbyter  is  only  old  Priest  writ  large,” 
who  longed  for  the  greatest  growth  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  ; 
Shakespeare,  whose  real  greatness  is  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  his  writings  are  saturated  with  Scripture  allusions 
and  quotations, — these,  according  to  an  authority  than  which 
there  is  none  better,  are  typical  names  in  English  literature. 
They  dealt  with  the  first  part  of  the  two  great  command- 
ments, and  the  people  who  with  them  have  learned  to  love 
the  Lord  their  God  with  all  their  hearts  are  the  missionary 
people  of  today.  Voltaire  took  only  the  second  half  of  the 
commandment,  and,  with  a heart  burning  at  the  thought  of 
human  oppression,  tried  to  teach  that  men  ought  to  love  one 
another.  Paris,  that  applauded  all  he  wrote,  was  bathed  in 
blood  as  she  tried  to  make  his  idea  practical.  He  never  led 
her  one  step  nearer  God,  and  so  not  one  step  nearer  a real 
love  for  humanity  ; her  mad  cry  of  Liberty,  Equality,  and 
P'raternity  had  no  ring  of  the  divine  in  it.  She  sang  the 
“ Marsellaise  ” and  danced  the  carmagnole,  but  sent  no 
missionary  to  an  oppressed  brother.  The  great  thought  of 
human  brotherhood  with  God  left  out,  that  Voltaire  preached, 
is  even  now  showing  its  hollowness  in  the  festering  mass  of 
race  hatred  and  official  corruption  that  stains  the  fair  name 
of  the  republic  that  we  dare  to  hope  may  even  yet  stand 
beside  us  in  the  effort  to  lead  the  world  to  Christ.  Zola’s 
great  and  bitter  cry  has  gone  forth,  but  it  is  a cry  of  despair ; 
he  sees  only  fate  and  nemesis  at  work  on  France,  no  divine 
Providence,  no  “ God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above 
his  own.”  His  reference  to  Jesus  seems  to  us  impious,  as  he 
says  by  comparison  that  “Jesus  was  condemned  but  once.” 
Was  Carlyle  right  when  he  called  St.  Pierre’s  “ Paul  and 
Virginia”  the  swan  song  of  French  literature.’  . No  other 
race  has  ever  trained  such  men  as  Carlyle  named.  After  all 
allowance  has  been  made  for  the  ruccged  climate  and  un- 
toward  surroundings  of  the  British  Isles,  it  still  remains  true 


28 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has  made  them  what  they 
are.  That  religion  will  never  allow  them  to  stop  in  their 
great  onward  sweep  toward  the  civilization  that  shall  per- 
meate the  world,  until  He  shall  come  whose  right  it  is  to 
reign. 

We  have  been  illustrating  the  self-purifying  power  of 
the  love  of  Christ  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances. 
How  is  it  where  the  spark  of  faith  is  small,  and  may  easily 
go  out  ? We  shudder  at  the  cruelties  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro, 
who  called  themselves  Christian,  and  yet  in  many  respects 
were  not  so  civilized  as  the  people  they  conquered.  They 
brought  a rough  gospel  to  the  gentle  races  of  Mexico  and 
Peru  ; and  the  conversions  of  which  thev  boasted  were  not 
much  more  than  an  exchange  of  idols.  Yet  in  both  these 
countries  there  has  been  for  a number  of  decades  a strug- 
gling toward  the  light,  an  anxious  looking  for  something 
better,  that  presages  a true  Christian  civilization  yet  to  come. 
And  the  islands  of  the  sea ; how  have  they  been  brought  to 
our  very  doors  by  the  fortune  of  war ! Some  one  besides  the 
authorities  at  Washington  had  to  do  with  the  selection  of  the 
quiet  man  whose  guns  that  May  morning  changed  the  map  of 
the  world.  To  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  the  United 
States  God  is  sending  a challenge,  and  all  the  world  waits  to 
see  her  accept  it ; here  is  her  opportunity ; her  best  men  are 
as  much  ashamed  of  the  condition  of  things  in  the  Philip- 
pines as  we  are ; she  has  priests  as  pure  and  as  consecrated 
as  the  first  missionaries  she  sent  over  to  this  continent,  and 
it  is  in  her  power  to  illustrate  as  she  never  has  yet  the  self- 
purifying  power  of  Christianity.  She  is  being  watched,  to 
learn  if  she  sees  her  opportunity,  and  if  she  does  not,  other 
missionaries  will  do  it  for  her.  She  herself  is  an  illustration 
of  the  fact  we  are  discussing ; her  popes  are  a different  race 
from  those  of  a few  hundred  years  ago,  and  in  the  last  few 
weeks  some  hot-headed  opponents  of  Romanism  have  learned 
to  their  surprise  that  priests  may  stand  for  law  and  order. 
So  the  life  Jesus  gives  solves  old  problems  by  raising  new 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOI.Y  SPIRIT. 


29 


ones,  and  the  life  becomes  ever  more  complex.  The  prayers 
of  our  fathers  that  the  doors  of  China  and  Japan  might  be 
opened  to  the  missionaries  of  Christ  have  been  so  answered 
that  we  tremble  at  the  weight  of  responsibility  they  have 
laid  upon  us.  Now  we  are  praying  that  the  people  of  God 
may  see  their  most  magnificent  opportunity,  and  give  the 
money,  for  there  is  no  lack  of  men,  and  send  this  old  world 
forward  with  an  impulse  she  has  never  had  before  toward  the 
millennium  promised  by  the  Master.  The  burden  grows 
heavier  as  we  go  forward,  as  did  that  of  the  Saviour,  but  the 
same  power  persists  to  the  end,  with  ever-increasing  effect- 
iveness. 

Abundance  in  All  True  Progress.  A religious  motive 
has  been  under  material  as  well  as  spiritual  gain.  This  was 
true  before  Christ  came ; it  has  been  doubly  true  since. 
Phidias  made  his  best  reputation  in  religious  sculpture,  and 
strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us,  he  worked  under  an  inspiration 
that  moved  all  Hellas.  His  Athene  Parthenos  was  something 
more  than  a work  of  art  ; it  meant  a religious  revival  ; it  was 
part  of  a great  forward  movement,  which  was  helped  by 
/Eschylus,  the  firm  believer  in  the  religion  of  his  fathers,  and 
by  the  pious  Sophocles.  Their  sentiments  were  shared  by 
Pericles,  who,  in  spite  of  his  philosophy,  and  of  immorality 
tolerated  by  the  religion  of  those  days,  publicly  and  in  his 
own  house  zealously  offered  sacrifices  to  the  gods,  and  was 
constant  in  prayer.  If  men  could  be  so  moved  by  high  and 
holy  motives  when  as  yet  there  was  no  great  personal  revela- 
tion of  God,  what  should  we  expect  when  the  opinion  of 
Socrates  was  verified  that  if  sin  was  to  be  eradicated,  one  of 
the  gods  must  come  to  earth  to  attend  to  it  ? The  coming  of 
Jesus  Christ  marks  the  beginning  of  the  world’s  best  growth 
in  everything  worth  having.  That  wonderful  speech  of  Paul 
on  Mars  Hill  was  epoch-making.  The  sneering  audience  of 
Epicurean  and  Stoic  philosophers  was  doomed  as  the  speaker 
crept  down  from  above  the  cave  of  the  furies,  with  a man 
following  him  who  should  become  the  bishop  of  the  Christian 


3° 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


church  in  Athens,  and  seal  his  devotion  with  his  life. 
Epicurus  and  Zeno  must  give  way  to  Plato  and  Aristotle, 
whose  philosophy  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  could  take  and 
irradiate  until  it  should  become  the  basis  for  the  grandest 
thought  in  modern  times.  Christianity  conquered  Greek 
culture  ; the  conquered,  as  has  so  often  been  the  case,  in  turn 
became  the  victor,  and  the  thought  of  personal  allegiance  to 
Jesus  was  overshadowed  for  centuries  by  the  effort  for  intel- 
lectual grasp  of  divine  truth.  The  age  of  creed-making  has 
not  been  as  Christian  in  its  spirit  as  it  might  have  been,  but 
the  fact  is  apparent  that  when  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus 
began  to  take  hold  on  human  thought  it  brought  out  the 
greatest  strength  the  intellect  has  ever  shown.  The  world’s 
intellectual  giants  have  been  developed  in  the  effort  to  wres- 
tle with  the  unrevealed. 

Literature  has  shown  the  impulse,  and  that  which  lives 
has  the  coming  of  Christ  behind  it.  Such  themes  as  were 
sung  by  Dante  and  Milton  would  make  any  writer  great. 
Canova  said  of  Pauline  Bonaparte  that  with  such  models 
journeymen  could  make  statues  ; with  the  thought  of  human 
sin  and  misery,  and  divine  love  shown  in  salvation,  any 
writer  must  become  eloquent.  How  thoroughly  this  has  been 
felt  is  shown  in  the  strength  of  English  literature.  One  of 
its  best  illustrations  is  Ruskin,  whose  beauties  are  those  of 
that  grandest  of  all  Saxon  books,  the  English  Bible.  His 
mother  taught  it  to  him  until  it  became  his  very  life.  Read 
any  of  his  writings  with  this  in  mind,  and  one  soon  learns 
the  strength  of  the  writer  and  the  reason  for  it.  If  you 
want  contrast,  try  the  lectures  of  the  great  agnostic  who 
recently  dropped  out  of  this  life,  and  see  how  absolutely 
barren  human  speech  can  be  made  by  eliminating  the  gospel. 
The  taste  of  the  people  is  being  rapidly  cultivated  for  reading 
that  has  this  foundation.  A large  part  of  the  fiction  of  the 
present  is  founded  on  the  fact  that  Jesus  came,  and  on  the 
incidents  of  that  coming.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  making  even 
the  enemies  of  Jesus  to  praise  Him.  When  the  leading 


OPFORTUNITV  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


31 


dailies  of  a city  begin  to  publish  the  Sunday  school  lessons 
with  comments  for  teachers  each  week,  and  many  of  the 
Sunday  editions  are  printing  more  each  year  that  tells  of 
Christ,  we  see  that  every  force  may  be  made  subservient  to 
Him,  and  we  learn  the  abundance  of  His  power.  That 
which  is  true  in  literature  is  still  more  apparent  in  art.  Art 
before  He  came  made  beautiful  faces  and  perfect  figures. 
After  His  coming  artists  began  to  try  to  paint  and  chisel  the 
godlike  into  the  human  visage.  The  paintings  in  all  the 
great  galleries  that  challenge  attention  of  the  multitude, 
those  that  command  the  highest  prices,  are  those  in  which 
are  the  forms  of  Jesus  and  His  disciples.  Artists  have 
wrought  till  human  strength  gave  way  in  their  effort  to  paint 
the  face  of  Jesus  ; none  have  ever  succeeded,  and  none  ever 
will  in  this  life ; He  can  only  be  reproduced  faintly  in  the 
countenances  of  those  who  love  Him,  but  the  artist  has  been 
glorified  in  his  attempt  at  the  impossible,  and  the  yearning 
of  the  heart  to  know  and  recognize  that  countenance  has 
given  the  world  the  richest  and  best  it  has  had. 

When  we  come  to  sociology  we  at  once  run  into  the 
pessimism  of  men  who  have  not  read  comparative  history, 
or  have  read  it  with  strong  prejudice.  The  laboring  man 
never  stood  so  high  in  the  scale  of  being  as  he  does  now  : 
never  had  so  many  privileges,  never  lived  so  well,  never  re- 
ceived so  good  wages  ; this  is  not  saying  that  he  receives  all 
he  ought  to  have,  but  that  he  is  nearer  to  getting  it  than 
ever  before ; and  with  all  this  he  has  never  had  so  great  and 
worthy  ambition.  The  Spirit  of  the  Master  is  at  work  on 
human  minds  and  hearts.  The  world  has  never  before  seen 
so  large  a class  of  manly  and  able  workingmen  as  the  loco- 
motive engineers  that  brought  us  to  this  meeting,  and  the 
motormen  and  conductors  that  take  us  about  the  streets. 
Even  the  bootblack  is  an  artist  now,  and  no  ordinary  boy 
can  take  his  place.  Humanity  has  been  rising  from  the 
foundation  up.  With  it  there  has  been  a notable  improve- 
ment in  the  condition  of  the  poor.  At  the  beginning  of  the 


32 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


Christian  era  the  population  of  Rome  is  estimated  to  have 
been  2,000,000;  of  these  10,000  constituted  the  nobility; 
1,000,000  were  slaves,  not  all  of  them  degraded  ; 50,000 
were  foreigners;  the  remainder  constituted  the  plebs  urbana, 
who  were  absolutely  destitute.  Come  down  to  the  days  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  historians  say  that  one-fifth  of  the 
population  of  all  England  were  paupers.  At  the  present 
time  General  Booth,  after  the  most  careful  research,  going 
through  London  where  crime  and  poverty  are  massed,  when 
he  had  placed  matters  at  their  very  worst,  can  only  talk 
about  the  submerged  tenth.  If  these  figures  stand  for  any- 
thing they  mean  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  lifting  humanity  in 
the  name  of  Christ  faster  than  we  realize.  Nineteen-twen- 
tieths slaves  and  paupers  in  the  best  city  of  its  time,  reduced 
in  sixteen  Christian  centuries  to  one-fifth  of  the  best  nation 
of  its  time,  and  that  in  three  centuries  more  reduced  to  one- 
tenth  in  the  worst  place  in  that  nation.  Now  we  can  see 
what  Jesus  meant  when  He  said  that  He  came  that  they 
may  have  abundance. 

This  Abundance  is  to  Come  by  Inspiration.  Those  who 
work  in  the  name  of  Jesus  have  just  one  power  that  others 
do  not  possess  ; they  have  but  one  ; it  is  important  that  they 
recognize  the  fact.  If  the  church  gives  herself  to  acts  of 
charity  as  a business,  she  wakes  suddenly  to  find  that  the 
newspapers  have  taken  it  up,  and  can  raise  more  in  a day 
than  the  church  can  in  a year,  and  gloat  over  it.  If  she 
grapples  with  questions  that  have  to  do  with  human  condi- 
tions, she  finds  herself  only  a small  part  of  the  great  num- 
ber that  are  wrestling  witji  the  same,  and  soon,  in  their  des- 
peration at  want  of  success,  they  are  blaming  her  for  not 
immediately  solving  the  whole  vast  problem.  And  so  on 
with  the  great  round  of  practical  applications  of  the  spirit 
of  love  to  modern  problems.  The  late  Dr.  Dale  was  right 
when  he  said  that  the  mission  of  the  church  ends  with  being 
inspirational ; but  we  must  not  forget  that  his  was  an  inspi- 
ration that  inspired,  even  to  parliament.  The  church  has 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


33 


not  yet  successfully  devoted  herself  to  both  inspiration  and 
method.  One  or  the  other  always  suffers,  and  it  is  usually 
the  inspiration.  The  power  Jesus  has  given  His  church  is 
that  of  going  to  the  human  heart,  and  so  filling  it  with  the 
longing  for  His  presence  that  it  will  turn  to  Him  whose  it  is 
by  right,  and  give  Him  the  opportunity  for  which  He  waits 
to  make  that  soul  Godlike  in  power  over  self,  and  in  love  for 
all  humanity  because  of  love  for  Him  who  died  for  humanity. 
When  a soul  is  thus  illumined  and  inspired  it  will  find  its 
own  method. 

Nothing  ever  moves  a man  so  completely  as  to  learn 
that  you  are  trying  to  give  him  spiritual  power.  He  will  be 
grateful  if  you  feed  him  in  his  hunger  and  clothe  him  in  his 
poverty;  but  soon  he  will  blame  you  if  you  do  not  continue 
to  do  it.  But  when  you  lift  his  soul  out  of  the  mire  and  let 
the  love  of  Christ  fill  it,  he  never  ceases  to  be  grateful. 
Only  one  mortal  had  any  power  for  good  over  Alcibiades. 
That  gifted  and  dissolute  young  man  thought  the  whole 
world  came  only  to  flatter  and  cajole  him  in  order  to  get 
something  from  him.  He  learned  after  a time  that  Socrates 
wanted  of  him  only  one  thing,  and  that  was  his  immortal 
soul.  He  listened,  became  interested,  tried  to  grasp  his 
thought,  and  the  time  came  when  with  hot  tears  he  admitted 
that  a life  that  Socrates  did  not  approve  .was  not  worth  liv- 
ing. Men  sneered  as  the  handsome  young  courtier  and  the 
ugly  old  philosopher  went  by,  and  attributed  their  friend- 
ship to  vile  motives,  but  the  confession  of  the  young  man 
was  deep  and  sincere.  Socrates  lacked  only  one  motive  to 
have  made  Alcibiades  one  of  the  world’s  greatest  characters. 
That  was  the  one  Paul  and  Silas  hurled  at  their  jailer  when 
the  prison  at  Philippi  was  shaken  : “ Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.”  That  motive  brought 
Dionysius  the  Areopagite  down  from  INIars  Hill,  while  his 
brother  philosophers  sneered ; it  transformed  the  brutal 
jailer  into  a man  all  love  and  sympathy.  That  motive 
turned  the  world  upside  down,  by  the  confession  of  their 


34 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


enemies,  wherever  the  disciples  went.  That  motive  has 
been  the  lever  by  which  humanity  has  been  lifted  thus  far. 
We  live  in  treacherous  times  ; the  results  of  Christianity  are 
before  us  ; we  see  their  value ; we  are  surrounded  by  the 
seen  as  never  before ; this  means  that  the  unseen  is  not  so 
real  in  our  thought  as  it  was  once.  Mr.  Gladstone  has  well 
pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  meaning  of  the  modern  word 
“altruism  ” is  really  a perhaps  unconscious  borrowing  of  the 
results  of  Christianity,  without  realizing  the  power  that  has 
produced  them.  We  are  in  the  same  danger  in  our  thought 
of  missions  for  the  whole  world.  Oh  ! for  one  hour  of  that 
terrible  reality  in  the  conception  of  a world  lost  in  sin  that 
sent  the  first  modern  missionaries  on  their  long  voyage  to 
their  life  work,  that  filled  the  treasuries  and  girdled  the  earth 
with  prayer.  Our  fathers  had  enough  power  to  pray  open 
the  long-shut  doors  of  China  and  Japan.  Have  we  enough 
of  the  same  kind  of  power  to  make  their  people  glad  their 
doors  are  open  ? We  as  missionaries  are  not  to  enter  these 
doors  merely  in  order  that  the  people  may  have  the  blessings 
of  civilization  that  we  have,  but  that  they  may  have  the  in- 
spiration that  gave  us  those  blessings,  and  that  then  they 
may  go  to  work  in  the  power  of  Christ’s  love,  and  develop 
beyond  what  has  yet  been  seen.  Not  the  result,  but  the 
power,  is  what  the.  world  needs  ; it  asks  bread  ; we  must  be 
careful,  or  we  shall  give  it  a stone.  The  blessings  of  civil- 
ization without  the  love  of  Jesus  will  prove  only  a means  to 
greater  sin  and  misery.  Without  the  spiritual  impulse  we 
shall  give  only  our  most  harmful  vices. 

When  Raphael  died  there  was  an  unfinished  picture  on 
his  easel.  It  represented  the  Transfiguration  ; the  Saviour 
and  His  three  disciples  on  the  top  of  the  mountain,  at  the 
base  the  dumb  demoniac  child  whom  the  scribes  had  brought 
that  they  might  win  a triumph  over  the  followers  of  Jesus. 
The  picture  was  incomplete,  but  it  was  Raphael’s,  and  one 
of  his  best.  It  was  placed  beside  his  body  and  carried  in 
the  funeral  procession.  It  was  too  precious  to  be  allowed 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


35 


to  go  from  Rome,  and  was  never  placed  beside  its  companion 
picture,  the  Resurrection  of  Lazarus,  by  Sebastiano.  It  was 
significant ; the  great  painter  had  caught  the  thought  of 
the  story  ; his  untimely  death  had  emphasized  it.  The  won- 
dering disciples  on  the  mount  had  not  apprehended  the 
purpose  of  the  transfiguration  ; they  only  wanted  it  to  last 
always  ; but  down  in  the  valley  was  the  demoniac  boy.  The 
question  for  them  and  for  us  is,  can  we  get  enough  inspira- 
tion on  that  mount  to  cast  the  devil  out  of  the  boy  at  its 
base,  or  shall  we  get  only  suflficient  to  make  us  appear 
ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  the  enemies  of  Christ.^  How  often 
the  disciples  have  been  able  to  receive  only  sufficient  to 
make  them  want  to  stay  always  on  the  height  ? But  that  is 
not  the  divine  plan.  We  have  misunderstood  the  inspira- 
tion ; we  have  belittled  it ; we  thought  the  divine  intent  was 
that  we  should  be  at  peace  above  this  world  of  woe,  when  it 
really  is  that  we  shall  plunge  into  the  life  below  with  the 
story  of  a life  unknown  before,  with  a power  that  shall  put 
to  flight  the  devils  that  haunt  human  hearts.  Under  the 
name  of  Christian  we  have  given  currency  to  the  idea  that 
the  physical  healing  of  that  boy  is  the  great  thing  to  be 
desired  ; we  spend  millions  on  societies  to  care  for  him  after 
he  has  been  plucked  out  of  the  fire ; we  start  rescue  stations 
to  pull  him  out  of  the  water ; we  fail  to  realize  that  our 
mission  is  to  cast  the  devil  out  of  him.  There  he  writhes, 
and  there  comes  to  us  the  patient  voice  of  the  Master : 
“This  kind  goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting.”  We 
had  thought  there  was  some  other  way  ; we  had  wondered 
that  we  could  not  do  it.  Our  transfiguration,  like  Raphael’s, 
is  unfinished,  and  the  boy  waits,  and  the  devil  tears  him, 
,and  casts  him  into  the  fire  and  into  the  water ; and  the 
enemies  of  the  Master  sneer  at  our  incapacity.  And  we  are 
intent  on  staying  with  Christ  on  the  mountain,  so  intent 
that  none  of  His  wonderful  inspiration  becomes  ours.  He 
sighs  as  He  heals  him  Himself,  and  we  wonderingly  ask, 
“Why  could  not  we  cast  him.  out.'*”  All  we  can  do  is  to  bring 


36 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


Him  to  the  boy,  or  the  boy  to  Him.  Shall  we  ever  learn  the 
conditions  under  which  that  Spirit  that  dwelt  in  Him  will 
take  up  his  abode  with  us?  Until  we  do,  our  efforts  will 
be  lame  and  our  longings  unsatisfied.  We  have  to  learn 
that  the  power  of  the  Spirit  can  be  ours  only  when  we  are 
willing  to  meet  God’s  conditions. 


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